The best tourism fleet management solution should offer you ways to save on your fleet costs, ways to simplify your operations, and keep your passengers safe. Passengers also have high expectations these days, and considering the competitiveness of the tourism industry, you want to implement technology that satisfies those expectations.
South Africa is one of the most talked-about holiday destinations in the world right now because of our beautiful landscape, friendly people, interesting cultures, and vibey music. According to The Citizen, South Africa welcomed approximately 10.5 million tourists in 2025, the highest international arrivals we’ve ever recorded. To cash in on this and ensure your business is the top choice for tourists, you must invest in proper fleet management software.
Today, we’re here to show you what it takes to be one of the best tourism fleet management solution and why we, at Cartrack, stand out from the rest.
What makes tourism FMS the best is the software it has to offer. A lot of tourism fleet companies out there use outdated software that doesn’t really solve issues and is actually a waste of money. You need a system that makes use of things like AI to bring you a futuristic approach to managing your fleet.
Some of the obstacles that tourism fleet managers encounter include:
This results in companies losing a lot of money and clients.
Here’s a closer look:
High fuel costs can be caused by idling for too long, reckless driving, or fuel fraud & theft. But with no technology in place, there’s no way to pinpoint what exactly is causing these high fuel expenses. As fuel takes up a big chunk of daily operational costs, this can result in a big loss in revenue.
Figuring out the most efficient way to drive tourists around the city without leaving out monumental sites can be quite the challenge. There are things like traffic, road closures, and varying vehicle sizes that must be considered to determine the best way to go about each tour. This can be time-consuming and may result in a lot of human error.
Fleet managers often overlook things like booking vehicles in for service and ensuring that drivers check vehicle conditions before and after trips. This is especially true during peak seasons, when there’s “no time” to waste. By neglecting vehicle maintenance, you create a bigger issue of constant breakdowns. This leads to more downtime and expensive repair costs.
Knowing how drivers behave when carrying passengers is difficult. Some drivers speed through the trips and never obey road rules, leaving your customers terrified and not enjoying the ride. The worst thing that could happen due to bad driver behaviour is an accident where passengers get severe injuries, or even die as a result. Aggressive driving habits also lead to more vehicle wear & tear and an increase in fuel consumption.
The tourism industry relies heavily on customer reviews, and in most cases customers only make public reviews if they’ve received impeccable or extremely horrible service. Customer reviews always make a huge difference, and we live in a time where social media makes the most impact. How many times have you seen a good review of a place on TikTok and thought to yourself, “Hmmm, I definitely need to try that”?
There are some small businesses that’ve literally skyrocketed in profits because someone went on the internet and shared their wonderful experience. There are also those whose businesses have hit complete rock bottom because of the power of social media.
As a tourism fleet manager, you need technology that’ll help you make better decisions, save costs, and bring you more customers. This means investing in a reliable fleet management system that provides things like:
You’ll always know where your vehicles are if you have GPS tracking on them. If the driver is supposed to be picking up people at the airport and they’re not there yet, you’ll see what’s causing the delay. Our system shows you which vehicles are on the move, idle, or completely off. This gives you complete control over your fleet.
Planning better routes means finding and exploring different ways for drivers to get to their destinations and choosing the best option. Route planning software speeds up that process, saving you time and giving you more fuel-efficient routes. Your drivers will experience less traffic and hiccups on the road, because this software usually factors in road conditions before giving its suggestion.
GPS tracking units have telematics, which is a technology that can detect when drivers are driving recklessly. You’ll be notified of this and be able to address your concerns with your drivers. This also helps you see which drivers need training for improvement. When drivers know you’re watching, they’ll behave better, giving your customers a better experience.
With a fleet management system, you also get to see accurate mileage readings, cross-check fuel receipts with the distance travelled, and track live in-tank fuel levels. These features will show you exactly how most of your fuel is being wasted and if there’s any theft or fraud. A fleet management system is the best way to reduce fuel expenses, which are a large portion of operational costs.
Don’t wait for vehicles to break down before fixing them; be proactive! This means using fleet management software for up-to-date vehicle servicing and repairs. Through a fleet management system, you’ll also get warnings of potential mechanical failures, so you can fix them before they cause breakdowns. This saves you money that could be spent on unexpected repairs. It also helps to ensure your vehicles are roadworthy.
Too many disconnected apps result in time being wasted going through the different platforms and aligning your plans. With a fleet management system, you’ll have the option of integrating your vehicle booking system with the platform, so you know which vehicles are booked and for how long. This helps you avoid booking clashes or missed cancellations. Alternatively, you can use the platform's own booking system.
Bad tourism experiences lead to more people being reluctant to use your services, which results in your business making less profit. Most of the time, this doesn't happen overnight but rather slowly as more people experience unpleasant service and leave reviews. But in today’s world, where social media influences the choices of many, a massive overnight loss is possible.
Picture this: You have a group of eight friends who’ve booked your shuttle services to transport them to a popular festival in your city. The festival happens only once a year and features some big international artists. The people who booked your services flew from another city just to attend that event. The event is two hours away from their accommodation in a remote area (making e-hailing a not-so-fitting option).
Now comes the time to pick them up. Your driver gets there at 13:00 and calls to say he’s arrived. Your clients are puzzled because they scheduled a 16:00 pick-up, and they’re not even there yet.
You realise there’s a mix-up with the booking times, and the driver won’t get the chance to pick them up later because there are other clients to pick up and all your other vehicles are busy. Your clients are left angry and stranded because they have no other way of getting to the event.
A few hours later, after a long search, you finally see a gap and find a vehicle that’s available. Your clients are picked up at 18:00, meaning they’re already late. Just when you thought things couldn’t possibly get worse, the vehicle breaks down mid-transit, and the matter takes another hour to get resolved. By this time, you already know that some bad reviews are coming.
But wait, it gets worse! Two days later, one of the people from that group recorded a video detailing all that happened on the day of the festival and how your shuttle services ruined their day. The video goes viral, and just like that, the whole world knows never to use your services. More people cancel the bookings they made, and your business takes a huge downturn.
A fleet management system could have saved you from all that trouble with a proper preventative maintenance plan and a more accurate vehicle booking system that helps you avoid clashes.
Remember that your customers are humans who most certainly are understanding. If there’s one small hiccup, they might be a bit lenient because, hey man, life happens! But if they encounter too many issues with your service, you’ve lost them. You want to make sure you give every customer the best possible service, and that means trying your best to eliminate all potential issues relating to your fleet. That’s where fleet management technology comes in!
At Cartrack, we’re considered by many to be the best tourism FMS because of the solutions we offer. You can’t manage what you can’t see, and we help you see! Through our GPS tracker, cameras, and sensors, you’ll get a full view of everything relating to your fleet at the palm of your hand.
Here’s what we offer:
Our route optimisation software factors in things like traffic trends, road conditions, and the time your drivers have to get to their destinations. All you need to do is input the driver destinations, and the software will suggest the best options for your drivers to get there. These suggestions will most certainly be more fuel-efficient—and often quicker.
The Cartrack Carpool feature is a vehicle booking system for shared company vehicles. It helps eliminate things like booking time confusion. It shows which vehicle is in use, what time it’ll be back, and which one hasn’t been returned on time. Drivers can either reserve the vehicles themselves, and then you’ll get a notification, or you can do it yourself. Carpooling is a great way to improve vehicle utilisation and keep up with vehicle availability.
If you prefer the booking system that you already have, you can integrate it into our system so you won’t have to go through too many apps to run your fleet.
Being on top of things involves staying in control of operational costs. MiFleet is our cost management tool that you can add to your package to track the real cost of things like fuel, repairs, and toll fees. For example, you can use this platform to check for fraud. How? The software factors in refuel receipts, tank capacity, fuel station location, and distance to determine if the transaction is accurate. If the numbers don’t add up, it’ll flag the transaction as high risk.
Another way to stay on top of fuel costs is by installing our fuel sensors in each of your vehicles. These sensors will give you live fuel levels. If there’s a sudden drop in fuel levels, then you’ll know it could be due to theft or a leak. Fuel sensors help you stop theft, sometimes as it happens.
Our preventative maintenance system ensures that your vehicles are always in good shape. You can start by importing all vehicle maintenance schedules onto our platform so we can give you reminders. From there, you can create a vehicle inspection checklist on our platform that drivers can use to inspect certain vehicle components before starting a trip. This ensures that all vehicles are safe to use, and you’ll get feedback so you know what needs to be fixed.
Our preventive maintenance system also alerts you to things like worn-out brake pads and engine faults. This is so you can quickly repair or replace vehicle components before they become a bigger issue and cause breakdowns.
We have a selection of camera solutions you can choose from to ensure your drivers are safe on the road and that your customers are comfortable and receiving good service. For example, our AI Tri-Vision cameras enforce safe driving practices by detecting distractions like when drivers are on their phone or smoking. The cameras release audible alerts for such behaviours, so drivers can quickly make corrections and focus on the road.
Through our camera solutions, you can also ensure that your drivers aren’t picking up passengers who aren't booked with your company during trips for personal gain.
Through our telematics system, you’ll get to see if drivers operate your vehicles safely. You’ll get reports of speeding, harsh braking, harsh cornering, and rapid acceleration. You’ll also be able to see when drivers idle for too long, which is another way that fuel goes down the drain. Through these reports, you’ll be able to address your concerns and promote safer and more fuel-efficient driving habits.
With our geofence feature, you can ensure your drivers remain within their designated areas. This tool allows you to create virtual borders around areas of your choice, so you get alerts wherever your drivers enter or leave those areas.
South Africa is attracting more and more tourists, and your business needs to be at the forefront and ready to handle the large volume. With Cartrack by your side, you’re assured a safer, healthier, and more profitable tourism fleet. So reach out to us, and take us with you on your journeys.
Learn more about tourism fleet management, find out which tools make up the best fleet management software, and why we stand out from the rest.
